President Bush warned Thursday against appeasing terrorists, invoking the prelude to World War II -- and drawing anger from Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and other prominent Democrats. Bush said in a speech to the Israeli Knesset: "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. "We have heard this foolish delusion before.

Artie Samish never ran for public office, but for decades he was one of the most powerful -- and colorful -- players in California politics. Before California had a full-time Legislature and when special interests could quietly give unlimited amounts of money to elect favored candidates, he was a consummate string-puller, a hired gun working for the highest pay.

After two weeks of often rancorous negotiations here that resulted in a last-minute compromise to appease the United States, United Nations climate talks unexpectedly dissolved into turmoil today, reflecting the disarray in the global community about how to deal with rising temperatures caused by greenhouse gases. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived early today to help resolve the last-minute snags, which pushed the summit into an extended session.

September 2, 2007 | Bruce Bawer, Bruce Bawer is author of "When Europe Slept." A longer version of this article appears in the summer issue of City Journal.

'If you want peace, prepare for war," counseled the Roman general Flavius Vegetius Renatus more than 1,600 years ago, echoing the sage advice given nine centuries earlier by the Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu. But in a film I saw recently at Oslo's Nobel Peace Center, this ancient wisdom was turned on its head: "If you want peace," it said, "prepare for peace." This purports to be wise counsel, a motto for the millennium.

Under harsh questioning in parliament, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologized Monday for the suffering of women exploited for sex during World War II. But senior members of his administration continued to deny that the Japanese military organized the brothel system that recruited the women.

In Europe's cafes, the newspapers are as wrinkled as always, the conversations still veer toward the abstract, but tempers these days are riled. Artists and influential leftists are warning that the rise of radical Islam is threatening the tradition of European liberalism.

POLITICAL rhetoric is a never-ending chess match that gathers intensity as an election approaches. The successful players know that the best way to win is to dominate your opponent by forcing him or her to contest the game on your terms and that the way to do that is to think as many moves ahead as you can. Whatever else it can or cannot do, the Bush administration plays major league electoral chess.

September 1, 2006 | Donald H. Rumsfeld, DONALD H. RUMSFELD is the U.S. secretary of Defense.

IN THE LAST FEW DAYS I have had the opportunity to speak at the annual conventions of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. It is always a humbling experience to be in the presence of those who have served and fought for our country during some of our darkest, most trying times -- when it was unclear whether our way of life would prevail. We are again engaged in conflicts that are testing whether we believe that the defense of liberty is worth the cost.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday compared critics of the Bush administration to those who sought to appease the Nazis before World War II, warning that the nation is confronting "a new type of fascism." Speaking at the American Legion convention here, Rumsfeld delivered his most explicit and extended attacks yet on administration opponents -- leading Democrats to accuse him of "campaigning on fear." By likening today's U.S.